Gun mount



Aug. 17, 1937. c. a. TRIM BACH 2,090,079

GUN MOUNT Filed April 11, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 16 a; (36 20 a7 J 19INVENTOR. 181 w CLBM G. TRIMBACH.

Aug. 17, 1937. I c. cs. TRIMBACH GUN MOUNT Filed April 11, 1933 4Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. CLE'M G. 1mm BACH.

Aug. 17, 1937. c. e. TRIMBACH GUN MOUNT Filed April 11, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR. CLEM GLTPIMBACH.

Aug. 17, 1 937. c. e. TRIMBACH GUN MOUNT Filed April 11, 1953 4Sheets-Sheet 4 ll. v

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CLBM GTRIMBACH.

ATTO

Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUN MOUNT App icationsprain i933, Serial No. 665,517

8 Claims.

This invention relates to movable machine gun mounts for aircraft.

The gun mount is particularly adapted for use in military aircraftwherein a cockpit is provided for a gunner. The gun is adapted foruniversal aiming and firing, so that a maximum sphere of fire isafiorded. In the past, it has been customary to provide a track, ring orswivel upon which the gun may be mounted for universal movement, thegunner being required to move around within the cockpit in order to aimthe gun. This method of aiming was satisfactory when aircraft moved atrelatively slow speeds,

but with the modern military aircraft, capable of high speed, it becomesincreasingly difficult for the'gunner to manipulate the gun by hand, andto withstand the pressure of wind on himself and on the gun, making itdifficult for him to move the gun and to aim properly. This inventionprovides a seat for the gunner and a support for the gun mounted on theseat. The seat is carried for swinging movement in a yoke, so that awide range of elevation is provided for firing of the gun, the gunnerand gun moving together. This yoke, in turn, is swivelled on a suitablepintle fixed to the aircraft, so that the seat and gun may be movedthrough a full 360 in azimuth. Suitable means readily available to thegunner, is provided for locking the seat with 39 the gun in any positionof elevation or az muth. As in the normal gun installation, the gun iscar ried for limited universal movement with respect to its support, sothat by moving himself in the seat, the gunner may cover a relativelysmall sphere of fire without moving the seat and gun support. Where theaiming point changes materially, the gunner may move the whole seat andmount readily, to train the gun on the new aiming point. In addition tothe broad arrangement of the gun mount, improved features are embodiedin the invention for stowing the gun and for adjusting the height of thegun to accommodate gunners of varying stature. Improved means islikewise embodied in the gun support and adapter so that the gun may bemoved in elevation and azimuth regardless of the attitude of the gunmount and seat as a whole.

Objects of the invention are:

(a) To provide a composite gun mount including a gunners seat and gunsupport;

(1)) To provide a gun mount that is universally movable over a widesphere of fire, both in elevation and azimuth;

(c) To provide a gun mount in which the air forces upon the gunner andmount are substantially balanced regardless of the position ofadjustment of the gun mount;

(d) To provide convenient means for detaching the gun and its adapterfor stowing within the aircraft;

(e) To provide convenient means for adjusting the height of the gun andits adapter to accommodate the gun for gunners of varying stature;

(f) To provide a unitary and readily available means for locking the gunmount in any position of adjustment in elevation or azimuth;

(9) To provide resilient means adapted to be overcome by physicalexertion on the part of the gunner for holding the gun mount in anormally level position of adjustment;

(h) To provide convenient means whereby the gunner may manually traversethe gun in elevation or azimuth; and

(i) To provide a gun adapter having an auxiliary sphere of fire inelevation and in azimuth regardless of the position of the gun mount asa whole.

Further objects will be apparent from a reading of the subjoinedspecification and claims, and from a consideration of the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly broken away, of an aircraft including thegun mount of this invention, showing the gun mount in a normally levelposition, and also in alternative elevated positions, and the gun in astowing position;

Fig. 2 is a section through the gunners cockpit of the aircraft showingthe gun mount in altemative positions for lateral gun fire in differentphases of elevation;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the gunners seatforming part of the gun mount;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of a portion of the gunners seat shown inFig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section on the line 5-5 of Fi 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-4; of Fi 4;

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8--8 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged section on the line 9-8 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 10 is a section on the line Ill-J0 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation, partly in section, of

the gun support and adapter forming part of the gun mount;

Fig. 12 is a rear elevation of the gun support and adapter; and

Fig. 13 is a section on the line Fig. 11.

Referring principally to Figs. 1 and 2, a portion of an aircraftfuselage l5 has formed therein 5 a .gunners cockpit l6, having an uppercockpit opening l'l. Centrally disposed on the floor It! of the cockpitis a rigid pintle l9 upon the vertical axis of which is a yoke 20mounted for swivelling. The pintle, referring briefly to Figs. 3, 4 and9, is 10 provided with a vertical shaft 2|, while the yoke 26 isprovided with bearing sleeves 22 engaging the shaft. The pintle i9 isprovided with an abutment 23 against which the lower surface of the yoke20 is adapted to rest, and the upper end 15 of the shaft 2| is providedvwith a sleeve 2% fastened thereto by a bolt 25 to hold the yoke 20against upward translation .on said shaft.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, the yoke 20 comprises asubstantially horizontal portion 26 20 having upwardly turned arms 21 atthe upper ends of which are arranged aligned pivots 28. A seat 29,preferably of the bucket type and having a seat recess 30 to accommodatethe service type of seat parachute, is provided at central points on the25 sides of the seat with aligned bearings 3 l, adapted to engage thepivots 28, thus allowing the seat 29 to be swung in a vertical planeabout said pivots. It will be noted that the axis of the bearings 3i isso located that it passes through substantially 30 the center of gravityof the swinging portion of the gun mount with the gunner seated and withthe gun mounted, as will hereafter be described. Centrally, along thelower forward edge of the seat, as at 32, is firmly mounted a socket 33.A 35 reinforcing member 34, carried by the seat 29,

is provided to brace the socket 33 with the bearings 30, thisreinforcement 3 being a substantially U-shaped member slanted from thebearings 3! around the forward lower edge of the 40 seat 29. The seat isalso provided with a suitable safety belt 35 which may be adjusted inthe conventional manner by the gunner to hold him firmly in a seatedposition (shown in Fig. 3).

By the mechanism thus far described, it is 5 apparent that the seat 29,with the yoke 20, is

free to swivel about the vertical axis provided by the pintle i9, andthat the seat 29 is free to swing about a substantially horizontal axisprovided by the pivots 28. The gunner, when seated, may 50 swivel orswing the seat to any desired attitude byuse of a toe rail 36. Bypressing on the toe rail with his foot, the seat 29 may be tilted orswung rearwardly. By pressing laterally against the toe rail, the seatand yoke may be swivelled 55 on the pintle l9. To'enable the gunner toquickly recover from a tilted attitude to a substantially horizontalattitude, a resilient rubber chord 31, or its equivalent, is providedbetween the seat 29 and the lower portion of the yoke 20. This chord 6031' is anchored to a suitable bracket 38 on the lower portion of theyoke 28 and thence passes around the pulley 39 mounted at the bottom ofthe socket 33, to a suitable anchor 60 on the bottom of the seat 29.When the seat is tilted, the 65 chord 31 is tensioned, tending toresiliently urge the seat toward a level attitude.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6, '7, 8, 9 and 10, the mechanism forlocking the seat 29 in any of the several possible positions of swingingor swiv- 7 elling adjustment, will be described. A bracket il is firmlyattached to the upper end of one of the yoke arms 21, this bracketextending forwardly and upwardly so that its forward end 42 isconveniently within reach of the gunner re- 75 gardless of the tilt ofthe seat '29 with respect to dog M, whereupon the link 89 is inactive.

the yoke 20. At the end 62 of the bracket M, is a pivot 43 on which iscarried for oscillation, a handle M. The handle carries a pair of pins85 spaced substantially equally on opposite sides of the pivot 63. Thebracket 4| is also provided with a pivot 36 adapted to carry a dog M foroscillation, said dog having a pin 18 for the mounting of a pair oflinks 49 and 50. The outer ends of the links 49 and 50 each have formedtherein elongated slots and 52, each engaging one of the pins 115. Whenthe handle is in a central position, shown in Fig. 6, the links 49 and50 are untensioned, and allow the dog M to drop to its lower extremeposition. When the handle M is rocked about the pivot 43, in acounterclockwise direction, as shown .in Fig. 6, the link 39 istensioned, rotating the dog in a counter-clockwise direction about itspivot 66; simultaneously, the link 50 is moved with respect to its pin25, but, by virtue of the slot 52, it rides free of the pin and has nostopping effect upon movement of the dog. Conversely, if the handle M ismoved in a clockwise direction, the link 50 is tensioned, raising theThus, by oscillating the handle 44 in either direction, the dog M isactuated. This dog engages a pawl 53, which is in turn adapted to engagein any one of several notches 54 carried by a quadrant 55 affixed to theside of the seat 29. A spring 55 is arranged to hold the pawl 53 in anengaging position with said quadrant, oscillation of the handle 46serving to disengage the pawl from the quadrant to allow tilting orswinging of the seat. Movement of the handle it in either direction forunlocking the seat with respect to the yoke 20, is a distinctconvenience and improvement, if it is realized that when the gunner hastilted the seat to a position of high elevation, his normal reactionwould be to pull the handle 53 toward him. This enables him to unlockthe seat and control the rate of its downward swinging. Conversely, ifhe wishes to tilt the seat to a high elevation from a level position,his normal reaction would be to push on the handle M, which would allowhim to unlock the seat and tilt it to any desired angle.

Within a. guide 51 in the handle 33, a plunger 58 is adaptedto slide,said plunger projecting above the handle M to enable its depressionagainst a suitable spring 59. The plunger 58 is connected by a flexiblecontrol cable 60 to a bell crank 6|, shown inFig. 9, pivoted as at 52 tothe yoke 20. The free end 63 of the bell crank 5i engages within anopening in a pin 64, normally urged downwardly by a. spring 65. The pin64 slides in a guide 66 carried by the yoke 20. A plurality of openings61 are arranged circumierem tially in the upper portion 23 of the pintlel9, within any one of which openings the pin G l is adapted to engage.When so engaged, the pin locks the yoke from rotation about the pintlei3. Withdrawal of the pin (i l from any one said opening 61, is effectedby depressing the plunger 58 carried by the handle 44, by virtue of theconnection effected by the control cable 60 and the bell crank 6!. Thus,the gunner has under his immediate control the locking of the seat 23,as it may be rotated in azimuth about the pintle. It will be noted herethat the handle 66 with the plunger 58, forms a unitary control by theuse of which the gunner may look the seat in any position of swinging orelevation, and swivelllng or azimuth.

Now referring to Figs. 1, 2, 11, 12 and 13, the gun support and adapter,and their respective relationship to the operation of the gun mount,will be described. A support I8, comprising a square tube, as shown inFig. 13, is adapted to be inserted in the socket 33 carried by the seat29. The square tube is used so that the support may not turn in the.socket; obviously other shapes might be used. A latch 1| hinged on thesupport 18 is adapted to engage a projection 12 on the outside of thesocket, said latch being provided with a handle 13 for its release.Insertion of the support I8 within the socket 33 allows automaticengagement of the latch holding it firmly in place. Thelatch may bereleased by the handle 13 for withdrawal of the support. A member 14,comprising a section of square tubing adapted to telescope within thesupport 18, carries at its upper end a boss 15 from which a pair ofspaced arms 18 and I1 slant forwardly and upwardly. The outer ends ofthe arms 16 and H are provided with upturned portions 18 and I9 providedwith pivots 88 and 8| adapted to carry a yoke 82 for swinging about thehorizontal axis provided by the pivots 88 and 8|. Centrally in the yoke82 a vertical pivot 83 is provided, which carries a gun adapter 84. Theadapter 84 has suitable fittings 85 and 86 engageable with the machinegun '81. By the construction thus far described, assuming that thesupport 18 and the seat 29 are locked from tilting or swivelling, it isapparent that the gun 81 and the adapter 84 may be traversed in azimuthabout the pivot 83 to an extent limited only by interference of theadapter 84 with the yoke 82. Likewise, the yoke, with the gun andadapter, may be swung in elevation. These motions of which the gun iscapable are useful for aiming in a limited sphere of fire and providemechanism such that the gun may be traversed when, as shown in positionE, Fig. 2, it is pointed downwardly over the side of the aircraft. It isbelieved that provision for traversing the gun when pointed downwardlyover the side of an aircraft is a novel feature which has not beenprovided for in previous gun mounts. As well as the position mentioned,the gun has universal action for aiming in the limited sphere of firingin any attitude in which the gun mount, including the seat 29 and thesupport I8, may be placed. For instance, position B, Fig. 1, allowsrelatively level rearward firing; position C allows elevated rearwardfiring; position D allows relatively level lateral firin'g; position Eallows depressed lateral firing; and position F allows elevated lateralfiring. The gun may be turned to fire from either side of the aircraftand also forwardly, simply by swivelling the mount.

Provision for stowing the gun is aflforded by means of a spring clip 81,in which the barrel of the gun may be snapped when not in use, as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 1. The clip 81 is carried by the support 18, sothat the gun, the member 14, and the support 18 may all be removed as aunit from the socket 33 and stowed in the aircraft, as in position A, toallow the gunner to engage in other duties which he may be called uponto perform, without having the gun in his way.

The mechanism shown in Fig. 11 is provided for adjusting the height ofthe member I4 with 0 respect to the support I8, whereby gunners of 75ment may also be used for raising the gun for high angle fire, or forlowering the gun for firing over the side of the cockpit. Said mechanismcomprises a keeper 88 slidable laterally in a guide 89 carried by themember I4. The keeper is urged outwardly by a spring 98 to engage in oneof several openings 9| provided in the wall of the support 18. Thekeeper 88 is provided with a slot within which is held a pin 92, while aslide 93, having an angled notch 94 is adapted to engage said slot andsaid pin 92 in such a manner that when the slide 93 is moved upwardly,the keeper 88 is forced inwardly to d sengage the opening 9|. A handle95 conveniently pivoted as at 96 to an upper portion of the member 14,carries a rod 91 for raising or lowering the slide 93. In order toalleviate unnecessary effort in raising and lowering the member 14 withthe gun and other auxiliary apparatus mounted thereon, a spring 98 isnested within the support 18 in such manner that it constantlyresiliently urges the member 14 from the support 18. The gunner mayreadily move the member 14 up and down, engaging the keeper 88 withinany suitable opening 9|.

Between the arms 18 and 11, a pair of hooks 99 is arranged to be turnedfor engagement with the rearward end of the gun adapter 84 when it maybe desired to temporarily hold the gun in a fixed position with respectto the support and seat.

By the above description, it will be seen that a gun mount having anextreme universality of movement is made possible, and that,particularly by the arrangement of the pintle l9, the yoke 28 and theseat 29, the gun mount as a whole may be installed in a cockpit of nogreater than usual dimensions. It is known to be old in the art toprovide a seat type gun mount capable of swivelling and swinging, butsuch prior mounts have been bulky and have required extensions in theaircraft fuselage, enlarged cockpits and the like which, in the presenttype of high speed military aircraft would be most undesirable, as suchenlargements and the like would interfere materially with theaerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft. It will also be apparent that bythe location of the swinging axis 28 about which the seat 28 may tilt,the air forces against the gunner and gun are substantially balanced.For instance, if the gun mount is in the position shown in Fig. 2, airpressure from the aircraft slipstream will address the gun and thegunner in substantially equal amounts on each side of the pintle axis,enabling the gunner to easily turn the gun mount in any direction. Ifthe seat be tilted upwardly a substantial amount, as shown in dottedlines in Fig. l, the gun and its support are elevated, and as suchelevation takes place, the gun sweeps upwardly to.1ie substantially overand in line with the pintle axis; at the same time the gunner tiltsbelow the coaming of the cockpit, so that he is out of the slipstream.Thus, the gun mount may be rotated about the pintle axis to any desireddegree without air forces interfering with such movement.

Traversing and elevation of the gun mount may be eflectivelyaccomplished by the gunner regardless of the attitude of the gun mount,and locking of the mount in any position of traverse or elevation may bereadily and easily accomplished by the locking mechanism and itscontrols as described.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferredembodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, afterunderstanding my invention, that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Iaim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes.

What is claimed is:

1. In aircraft, a gunners cockpit, a substantially vertical pintlecentrally located on the floor of said cockpit, a substantially U-shapedyoke mounted for swivelling on said pintle, aligned pivots at the endsof the arms of said yoke, a seat swingable about said. pivots andsuspended therefrom, lying between said arms, a support adapted forcarrying a gun, mounted on said seat, means for locking said yoke .inany swivelling position on said pintle, means for locking said seat inany swinging position in said yoke, and a unitary device carried'on anarm of said yoke for controlling both said locking means to permit oftheir selective operation.

2. In an aircraft gun mount including a seat adapted for swivelling andtilting, means for controlling the swivelling of said seat, means forcontrolling the tilting of said seat, and a device for operating bothsaid controlling means including a bracket, a member pivoted to saidbracket, mechanism for operating said tilting control means uponmovement of said member about its pivot, a plunger carried by saidmember, and mechanism for operating said swivelling control means uponmovement of said plunger with re-- spect to said member.

' 3. In an aircraft gun mount, in combination, a yoke, a seat pivoted tothe upper ends of said yoke for swinging, a pulley mountedfor rotationon said seat, and a resilient flexible member attached to said seat,passing over said pulley and attached to said yoke for resilientlyurging said seat toward one extreme of its swinging motion.

4. In an aircraft, a gun mount comprising a yoke adapted to swivel onsaid aircraft, an angularly swingable seat pivoted to said yoke abovethe seat level and lying between the arms of said yoke, and a bracket onsaid yoke having a handle by which a gunner may manually swing said seatto any angular position, in any swivel position of said yoke, saidhandle having mechanism associated therewith to enable said gunner tolock said yoke in any swivelling position and tolock said seat in anyswinging position.

5. In aircraft, a support, a pair of spaced horizontal pivots carriedthereby, a seat carried by said pivots for swinging in a substantiallyvertical plane, a member rigidly carried by said support and having ahandle pivoted thereto, said handle being within easy reach of anoccupant of said seat whereby such occupant may move said seat withrespect to said support by exerting pressure on said handle, lockingmeans for locking said seat in any available angular position relativeto said support, and means connecting said locking means with saidhandle, said locking means being operated by moving said handle aboutits pivot.

6. In aircraft, a support having spaced pivots, a gunners seat swingableabout said pivots, a member carried by said support convenient to saidgunner, said seat with the gunner being swingable by pressure imposed bythe gunner on said member, locking means for locking said seat in anyswinging position, and a handle for operating said locking means pivotedto said member, said handle having a central locking position andunlocking positions on either side of said central position.

7. In an aircraft gun mount including a seat adapted for swiveling andtilting, means for controlling the swiveling of said seat, means forcontrolling the tilting of said seat, and a unitary device for operatingboth said controlling means including a member movable in one directionfor operating said tilting control means and a second member carried bythe first member, movable relative to the first member for operatingsaid swiveling control means.

8. In a seat type gun mount for aircraft, in combination, said aircrafthaving a cockpit for said mount, a relatively short substantiallyvertical pintle mounted centrally on the floor of said cockpit, asubstantially U-shaped yoke the bottom thereof being centrallyjournalled on said pintle whereby said yoke may swivel thereon,substantially horizontally aligned pivots carried respectively on theupper ends of the upstanding arms of said yoke, a seat having sideplates journaled in said pivots for permitting swinging of said seat ina substantially vertical plane, said seat lying between the yoke armsand over said pintle, a gun carrying support fixed to the edge of saidseat and extending substantially vertically therefrom, and a reenforcingmember extending from said side plates adjacent said pivots, downwardlyand inwardlv, for holding said gun carrying support.

CLEM G. TRIMBACH.

